Valerie's Workshop

As I sit here, early in the morning on a snowy New Year's Eve, I cannot help but think what a n amazing year it has been ! It has been a year filled with new friendships and losses of those we hold dear, of happy afternoons on the lake and quiet moments in the woods. I've created meals with friends and artwork with my son. I've hunted with my family and continued my knife sharpening skills at work (that's right!) I've giggled over silly stories and wept over emails. I've grown, I've learned, I have shared and I have loved. What a n amazing year it has been ! It has been good. It has been challenging. It has flown by. And it is over! Goodbye 2011. You have been swell, but there's a new year approaching and I hear it's going to be bigger and better then you were! Happy New Year!

There are a few things you should know about me:    I am a huge fan of Christmas!  I love decorating the house, cutting down a tree and hanging lights from the gutters.  To start the Christmas season off, I dug up a pine tree from my mother's yard and potted it in an old bucket. When the holiday has past, she will return it to her yard, possibly in a new spot. Today I have plans to go cut down a tree at a local tree farm to put in my own living room. As geeky as this sounds, my theme is gold and cranberries this year.  Once I've finished decking the halls, I'll make sure to share!  I am enchanted by early morning fog in the Smokies.  I enjoy watching the world transform from eerie tranquility to bright daylight. It's even more fun to hike around while this transformation is in process. You feel like someone's ghost is going to rise up from a rock along the old wagon trail. Spooky!  I love everything about snow.  I have an iPhone.  I ...

My son in the front yard with my dear friend L. Another week has flown right by. What a minute. Another year has flown by. My first born (and only) son turned four years old last week. What feels like a few months ago, I was changing diapers and dealing with midnight feedings.  Now, I have a walking, talking, amazing young boy sitting next to me on the couch who feeds and waters himself (most of the time). who says you can't garden on your birthday!? my grandmother's silver To celebrate Bodie's birthday, we had a family gathering last Thursday evening. My amazing friend L. was in town for the weekend and helped me pull everything together. We spent most of the day rearranging the upstairs, setting two dining tables and prepared all sorts of savory, fall comfort food. The menu included bacon apple tarts, bacon wrapped waterchestnuts , apple pear salad, beef stew and cheddar biscuits. For dessert, a pumpkin spice shape with cream cheese frosting, shaped like a pum...

  I went to the top of the world today,  to see what I could find,  and all I saw for miles and miles, were things you left behind. Your spirit was high up in the clouds,  moving carefree through the sky. Your voice whispered through the leaves, saying 'sister, don't you cry.' The river contained your courage,  never knowing when to cease. Even your laughter echoed through a soaring flock of geese. Your strength was in the trees, growing taller every day Your smile was in the sun,  beaming down from far away. In the sparrows you left curiosity,  always seeming to ask us why. And the hills held your ambition,  reaching upwards towards the sky. So even though you are now gone,  your soul will never be,  for I take it everywhere I go, it is wild and  it is free. Written by Valerie Hein, In memory of Benjamin Thomas Hein and Scott Thomas Peterson.

A week or so ago I was lucky enough to sneak out to the country with a good friend of mine. E, Bodie and I braved the chilly, blustery autumn weather to go to a vineyard for a wine tasting, buy apples at a local orchard and buy pumpkins from a family-friend's farm. At our first stop we tasted ice wine for the first time. E was sweet enough to splurge $7 on a glass shot of ice wine for us to share and get a taste. As sweet and decadent as it was, we couldn't justify paying $47 for a small bottle, so we stocked up on some of Wollersheim's other wines and hit the road feeling slightly out of place and under-wined. On to our next destination: Ski Hi Apple Orchards. As we began the short drive between the two locations the sky let loose and it began to pore. We could barely see the road in front of us. We slowed our pace and arrived at Ski Hi just as the rain took a break. We ran inside, and quickly found out we wouldn't be picking apples today ... unless by picking ...

Sun streamed through the blinds. Water bubbled on the stove. Coffee steeped in the press. Sausage sizzled and hashbrowns hissed. Eggs scrambled in the skillet. Plates emptied as bellies filled. Shower felt like warm rain. Clean, fresh clothing awaited. Bike was packed and helmet was donned. Pedals squeaked while leaves crunched. Crisp wind made my cheeks rosy. Wheels turned round and round. Ka-BOOM! Walked along while bike limped. Enjoyed the sun twenty minutes more then normal.

  As each day passes I become more and more excited to realize that fall is on it's way here in Madison. The sugar maples have given in and started turning red, orange and gold. The students have returned to campus, turning my commute into a game of spot-the-most-rediculous-new-fashion-trend. Oh, and the temperature has been dipping into the 40s at night, forcing the windows to be closed and the down comforter to be pulled out of the closet (and me to cuddle a little bit closer to my honey). I love everything about fall; wearing extra layers of bold patterned wool shirts, hiking through the woods to record the changing of the season and making big batches of chili in the dutch oven. Only this time of year can I fill my house with pumpkins (both for decorating and baking), put scare crows in the front yard and comfortably drink a caramel latte (ooh ... I could go for one right now!) Only in autumn, for the first time in my life for that matter, can I run out to my garden, grab a...